After a dominating 2004 season that culminated in last June’s trip to the Henley Royal Regatta, the Crimson varsity graduated more than two-thirds of the 18 members from last year’s top two boats.

The young crew—there were three sophomores in this year’s varsity boat at week’s end—will benefit all the championship experience it can get after the departure of so many seasoned and valuable veterans.

“They were a really fast class last year,” Buckland said.

But Buckland knows that the spring of 2005 carries its own promise.

After trouncing Brown by nearly 10 seconds last Saturday, the young Crimson varsity boat seems poised to make another run.

“It’s never been about comparison,” he said. “Our captain [Aaron Holzapfel] and [Malcolm Howard] have kept us looking forward to a really good year.”

The “really good year” hints at hopes of another sweep of the Eastern Sprint and national championships.

But Buckland knows that the Crimson boat has yet another date with the Huskies at June’s IRAs.

This time, though, Buckland native will swap his Husky purple for crimson.

And that suits him just fine.

“I’m just going to get on the line and do what I can,” Buckland said. “It’s not about them, and it’s not about me. It’s just going to be exciting to race, as always.”

This year, though, he’ll head to the IRAs already knowing just how fast the Crimson varsity crew really is.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.